Love and Lust in the Dark Side
by Lady Krin of Unnamed House
Summary: A new character... An age oldbattle... Can Anakin stay faithful to Padme with Natalya around? Rated for future chapters.


Love and Lust in the Dark Side Chapter 1

AStar Wars fanfic

"_Never!" she shouted, igniting her lightsaber._

_ Snap-hiss… "I will ask you one more time, Natalia-"_

_ Her opponent never had a chance to finish. Someone else came up from behind and stunned her…_

Natalya awoke, gasping and sweaty. _How many times will this dream plague me?_ She swept her damp red braids out of her face with long pale fingers. She was about to get out of bed when her door buzzed.

"Enter, it's open."

The people who came into her room were the last people she expected at that hour: Mace Windu, Yoda, and Obiwan Kenobi.

"Hmmm, awakened you, we did not, I see." The small green Jedi master seated himself on the end of her bed. Mace Windu found a chair, and Obiwan leaned on a table. "Wondering, you are, at what brings us here at this hour."

"I will admit, Master Yoda, that I am surprised, but you three masters are exactly whom I was going to seek out come dawn." She licked her blood-red stained lips, momentarily flashing sharp, pointed canines.

Master Windu spoke next. "These dreams you spoke of gave us no small cause for worry, padawan."

"Recurring dreams of the future are not that common, Natalya, whatever the other padawans may tell you." Despite his deliberate ambiguity, Obiwan was obviously referring to his own padawan, Anakin Skywalker.

Natalya half turned, tucking her feet under her, making the black stippling of tattoos across her skin all the more obvious. "You are the only ones who know, Masters. Not even my late master knew."

Mace Windu rubbed his forehead. "When did you dream this last? How often do you have it?"

"I had it just before you came, masters. And I dream it almost every night, and more often of late." She sighed quietly.

Obiwan Kenobi, ever observant, nodded at her. "Natalya, we of all people know how upsetting these dreams can be. Can you tell us exactly what these dreams entail?"

Natalya shifted again so she was facing all three masters. "It's always the same dream. I am in a dark room with one window looking out over Coruscant." She closed her eyes, reliving the scene. "A man in a hood with a raspy voice that sounds very familiar is asking, no _cajoling_ me. 'Don't you _hate_ what I've done to you?' I do not answer him; I'm better than that. He continues on like that for a while. Then he asks, 'Don't you fear for your life, the lives of your friends and family and those who depend on you?' 'No.' 'No? Why not?' 'Because I am _Jedi_, and I know the force. I do not fear death.' 'Surely you must be angry. Use it. Do it. Strike me down!' 'Never.' 'Join me, Natalya. You will have power beyond your wildest dreams. Your name will go down in history.' My lightsaber is in my hand; I don't know how it got there. 'Never.' I ignite. The man asks pleadingly, 'I will ask you one more time, Natalya-' I don't hear him finish, because someone comes up from behind me and clubs me with the butt of a lightsaber." She opened her eyes, realizing that her nails were cutting into her palms.

Yoda frowned. "Hmmm. And always the same, you say? Tempted by the Dark Side, we all are. But worse, your trial will be. Free and ready to meet this challenge, you must be. Ready, your master said you were, before his death. And agree, the council does."

Mace Windu stood and bowed. "Padawan Natalya Kiroi, you are summoned before the Jedi Council for your trials to become a Jedi Knight. You will report to the Council Chamber at dawn, three days hence. Come alone, bring nothing but your wits and your lightsaber." He and Yoda departed.

Obiwan stayed behind a moment longer. He handed Natalya a datacard. "I recommend that you spend the next three days meditating. You should also read the contents of that disk."

"Thank you, Master Kenobi. I will be sure to take your advice. Thank you for all your help, especially after Master Ciaro-" She clenched her teeth, trying not to break her calm.

Obiwan patted her shoulder gently. "Do not be afraid to feel, Natalya. Having emotions does not make you a bad Jedi. It makes you sentient." He turned towards the door. "May the Force be with you, Natalya."

"And with you as well, Master Kenobi." She twirled the datacard in her fingers.

No sooner had he left than her chronometer buzzed. _Dawn already?_ She got up and quickly donned her black temple robes. _An odd choice, considering my future._ On her way to breakfast, she ran into a group of old friends.

A blue-skinned twi'lekk (Ratha D'Mir), a Rodian (Luk Doid), and a human, none other than Anakin Skywalker, waited for her in the corridor. Anakin picked Natalya up and spun her in a circle.

"Master Kenobi told me you've been summoned for the trials! It's about time. You're about as slow as dewback." He hugged her again.

"Don't get cocky, Skywalker. You still have that braid." She jokingly punched him.

The Rodian bobbed his head. "I overheard Masters Yoda and Windu talking about the two of you being knighted together, since you practically shared a master."

"You'll be absolutely fine." Ratha looked pointedly at Luk. "What form will you use?"

"I don't know yet." She shrugged, obviously not wanting to pursue the subject further.

Everyone nodded, and then they continued on their way to breakfast.

Natalya powered off her datapad. She was about to slip into a trance and meditate when Anakin burst into her room. She glanced at her chronometer.

"Anakin, it's almost two in the morning. I have to be at the Council chamber at dawn." She resignedly unfolded herself, seeing that he was not about to leave.

"Just come with me." He grabbed her wrist in his mechanical hand and her cloak in the other, pulling her along behind him.

When they got out of the dormitories, Anakin handed Natalya her cloak and pulled his hood deeper over his face. He motioned her to be silent and follow him closely. His Astromech droid, R2D2, met them at the next intersection.

On and on they walked through the belly of the temple, until they came to the hangar bay. There was a small two-man fighter sitting on the catapult, ready for droid and passengers. Once in the cockpit, Anakin flipped the comm switch. The tower came crackling through the speakers.

The controller sounded bored. "Flight jay-six-five-oh-oh-two, this is control. You are cleared for launch. Please watch out for slower freighter traffic on the dayside. Do not take the fighter outside the system. Have a nice flight. See you when you get back, Skywalker."

"Roger that control. I won't break any of the rules this time. See you when we get back, Jace." He flipped the switch again, and the babble from the tower cut out. "Have you ever been up in a fighter, Natalya?"

She jerked her restraints tighter. "No. I've only been in space twice. The first time, I was only an infant. The second – I prefer not to talk about it."

Anakin laughed. "Relax. You're safe with me." He pushed the throttle, grinning as the starfighter screamed out of the hangar. He grinned even wider when Natalya let out an involuntary shriek as they began to climb.

Once out of the atmosphere, Anakin pointed the nose toward the day side. They hurtled around the planet until there was just barely a glow around the horizon. He stopped in a geosynchronous orbit.

Natalya stared at the growing halo of light. The planetary sunrise was spectacular. "It's amazing, Anakin."

Saying nothing, he turned the fighter around and screamed back to the hangar bay. As Anakin helped her out of the fighter, Natalya slipped, falling neatly into his arms.

"You need to be more careful, Natalya. I won't always be able to catch you so neatly. I might fall first." He grinned crookedly, not noticing the dark look she gave him.

Natalya went limp in his arms. "Oh, my _hero_! Oh, Anni…" She affected a high falsetto, like the damsels always did in the vids.

Anakin stiffened as though he had been slapped. "Don't you _ever_ call me that." He set her on her feet, none too gently. "Only two people alive in this galaxy call me that, and _you_ are _not_ one of them." He stalked away, leaving Natalya to find the council chamber herself.


End file.
